Book of Abraham, Early 1842

it came to pass that it was from evening
until morning, that they called night;
and it came to pass that it was morning until evening, that they called day:
and this was the second time, that they
called night and day.

26. And the Gods ordered, saying, let
the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the earth
come up dry, and it was so, as they ordered; and the Gods pronounced the earth
dry, and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they great waters: and
the Gods saw that they were obeyed.—
And the Gods said, let us prepare the
earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit,
after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and
it was so even as they ordered. And the
Gods organized the earth to bring forth
grass from its own seed, and the herb to
bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind, and the earth to
bring forth the tree from its own seed,
yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring
forth the same, in itself, after his kind;
and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.
And it came to pass that they numbered
the days; from the evening until the morning they called night. And it came to
pass from the morning until the evening
they called day; and it was the third
time.

27. And the Gods organized the lights
in the expanse of the heaven, and caused
them to divide the day from the night;
and organized them to be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days, and for years;
and organized them to be for lights in the
expanse of the heaven, to give light upon
the earth; and it was so. And the Gods
organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night; with the lesser
light he set the stars, also; and the Gods
set them in the expanse of the heavens,
to give light upon the earth, and to rule
over the day and over the night, and to
cause to divide the light from the darkness. And the Gods watched those things
which they had ordered, until they obeyed. And it came to pass, that it was from
evening until morning, that it was night;
and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening, that it was day; and
it was the fourth time.

28. And the Gods said let us prepare
the waters to bring forth abundantly the
moving creatures that hath life; and the
fowl that they may fly above the earth,
in the open expanse of heaven. And
the gods prepared the waters that they
might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the
waters were to bring forth abundantly
after their kind; and every winged fowl
after their kind; and the Gods saw that
they would be obeyed, and that their plan
was good. And the Gods said we will
bless them and cause them to be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the waters in the
seas, or great waters; and cause the fowl
to multiply in the earth. And it came
to pass that it was from evening until
morning, that they called night; and it
came to pass that it was from morning
until evening, that they called day; and it
was the fifth time.

29. And the Gods prepared the earth
to bring forth the living creature after
his kind, cattle and creeping things, and
beast of the earth after their kind; and it
was so as they had said. And the Gods
organized the earth to bring forth the
beasts after their kind, and cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creepeth
upon the earth after their kind; and the
Gods saw they would obey. And the
Gods took counsel among themselves,
and said, let us go down, and form man in
our image, after our likeness, and we will
give them dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth. So the Gods went
down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods, to form
they him, male and female, to form they
them: and the Gods said we will bless
them. And the Gods said we will cause
them to be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to
have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth. And the Gods said, behold, we
will give them every herb bearing seed
that shall come upon the face of all the
earth, and every tree which shall have
fruit upon it, yea the fruit of the tree,
yielding seed to them we will give it, it
shall be for their meat; and to every beast
of the earth, and to every fowl of the
air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold we will give them
life, and also we will give to them every [p. 721]

it came to pass that it was from evening
until morning, that they called night;
and it came to pass that it was morning until evening, that they called day:
and this was the second time, that they
called night and day.

26. And the Gods ordered, saying, let
the waters under the heaven be gathered
together unto one place, and let the earth
come up dry, and it was so, as they ordered; and the Gods pronounced the earth
dry, and the gathering together of the waters, pronounced they great waters: and
the Gods saw that they were obeyed.—
And the Gods said, let us prepare the
earth to bring forth grass; the herb yielding seed; the fruit tree yielding fruit,
after his kind, whose seed in itself yieldeth its own likeness upon the earth; and
it was so even as they ordered. And the
Gods organized the earth to bring forth
grass from its own seed, and the herb to
bring forth herb from its own seed, yielding seed after his kind, and the earth to
bring forth the tree from its own seed,
yielding fruit, whose seed could only bring
forth the same, in itself, after his kind;
and the Gods saw that they were obeyed.
And it came to pass that they numbered
the days; from the evening until the morning they called night. And it came to
pass from the morning until the evening
they called day; and it was the third
time.

27. And the Gods organized the lights
in the expanse of the heaven, and caused
them to divide the day from the night;
and organized them to be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days, and for years;
and organized them to be for lights in the
expanse of the heaven, to give light upon
the earth; and it was so. And the Gods
organized the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser
light to rule the night; with the lesser
light he set the stars, also; and the Gods
set them in the expanse of the heavens,
to give light upon the earth, and to rule
over the day and over the night, and to
cause to divide the light from the darkness. And the Gods watched those things
which they had ordered, until they obeyed. And it came to pass, that it was from
evening until morning, that it was night;
and it came to pass that it was from morning until evening, that it was day; and
it was the fourth time.

28. And the Gods said let us prepare
the waters to bring forth abundantly the
moving creatures that hath life; and the
fowl that they may fly above the earth,
in the open expanse of heaven. And
the gods prepared the waters that they
might bring forth great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the
waters were to bring forth abundantly
after their kind; and every winged fowl
after their kind; and the Gods saw that
they would be obeyed, and that their plan
was good. And the Gods said we will
bless them and cause them to be fruitful
and multiply, and fill the waters in the
seas, or great waters; and cause the fowl
to multiply in the earth. And it came
to pass that it was from evening until
morning, that they called night; and it
came to pass that it was from morning
until evening, that they called day; and it
was the fifth time.

29. And the Gods prepared the earth
to bring forth the living creature after
his kind, cattle and creeping things, and
beast of the earth after their kind; and it
was so as they had said. And the Gods
organized the earth to bring forth the
beasts after their kind, and cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creepeth
upon the earth after their kind; and the
Gods saw they would obey. And the
Gods took counsel among themselves,
and said, let us go down, and form man in
our image, after our likeness, and we will
give them dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing, that creepeth upon the earth. So the Gods went
down to organize man in their own image, in the image of the Gods, to form
they him, male and female, to form they
them: and the Gods said we will bless
them. And the Gods said we will cause
them to be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and to
have dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth. And the Gods said, behold, we
will give them every herb bearing seed
that shall come upon the face of all the
earth, and every tree which shall have
fruit upon it, yea the fruit of the tree,
yielding seed to them we will give it, it
shall be for their meat; and to every beast
of the earth, and to every fowl of the
air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, behold we will give them
life, and also we will give to them every [p. 721]

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...

spent considerable time in 1835 engaged in two separate yet related endeavors: a language-study effort that produced a number of Egyptian alphabet and grammar manuscripts; and the translation of the Book of Abraham, which yielded several Abraham manuscripts. However, none of their work related to Abraham appeared in print until 1842. At that time a portion, if not all, of the Abraham material available was published at Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, LDS church purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas. Served as church headquarters, 1839...

, Illinois, in three installments of the Times and Seasons, two in March and one in May of that year as the Book of Abraham.

The Times and Seasons text featured here did not divide the material into chapters, but did include thirty-two numbered verses. In contrast, later publication of these Abraham texts, including those in use today, arrange the thirty-two verses of the Times and Seasons version into five chapters containing 136 shorter verses.

The first of the three printed installments, published on 1 March 1842, included the first thirteen verses (what is currently Abraham 1:1–2:18) of JS’s translation, plus facsimile 1. The second installment, published under date of 15 March but actually printed on 19 March (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Mar. 1842), included verses 14–32 (currently Abraham 2:19–5:21), plus facsimile 2. Neither of the first two installments featured hieratic characters in the left margin of the text, as did some earlier manuscripts. The third and final Times and Seasons installment of the Book of Abraham was published on 16 May and featured only facsimile 3.

’s handwriting likely served as a printer’s manuscript for the first installment described above (verses 1–13 and facsimile 1; currently Abraham 1:1–2:18). A second document (Willard Richards Copy of Abraham Manuscript, Early 1842–B [Abraham 3:18–26], also in Richards’s hand, probably served as a printer’s manuscript for the second installment (verses 14–23; currently Abraham 3:18–26). Manuscripts for the contents of both facsimile 3 and the last nine verses in the Times and Seasons version of the Book of Abraham (currently Abraham 4:3–5:21) are not extant.

Evidence from multiple sources suggests that JS may have produced other Abraham material that is no longer extant. However, JS did not subsequently publish any additional Abraham texts. (Hauglid, Textual History of the Book of Abraham, 5–6.)

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, LDS church purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas. Served as church headquarters, 1839...